One of the essential elements of protecting an invention is secrecy. It is vital that you do not discuss any part of your idea with anyone before applying for a patent to protect it. Disclosure (except under certain circumstances) is likely to render a later filed patent invalid and unenforceble because the disclosure may destroy the novelty of your invention. The person that you disclosed your invention to and other third parties could then go ahead and copy your invention with potentially serious financial consequences to your business.

Before discussing your invention or idea with anyone else if it hasn’t been protected by a patent application, and sometimes even if it has, you should have them sign a confidentiality agreement (also known as a non-disclosure agreement or confidentiality disclosure agreement). These are legally binding documents.

Newspaper headlines are often highlighting the importance of checking whether a name or brand is free to use before it is launched in a chosen market. For example, the boy band One Direction faced a dispute the USA over the use of their name.

As businesses grow, the range of products or services commercially marketed may expand beyond the goods and services originally listed in trade mark registrations obtained to protect those goods and services. Additionally, as plans are made to enter into new commercial markets in new territories, existing trade mark registrations may not serve to protect your business. Does your company review its trade mark rights to ensure that your business' current portfolio of products and services is actually protected?

Court proceedings are often a costly and time consuming aspect of defending and enforcing intellectual property (IP) and this usually discourages individuals and small companies from taking action against infringers.

Following the publication of recommendations for streamlining the intellectual property litigation system and for reducing the costs of pursuing lower value claims, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) (previously called the "Patents County Court") successfully introduced procedures to help it deal more efficiently with lower value and less complicated IP claims.

Everyone is a victim where copying is concerned. Counterfeits are becoming increasingly sophisticated, but there are things you can do to make it more difficult for the unauthorised user of your intellectual property.